Pop culture wars in the age of Gen Z: What makes TikTok tick?

One of TikTok’s keys to success is its authenticity. Brands can’t just plug their products to drive immediate conversion — it doesn’t fit with the platform’s vibe. They can pay for ads, but pushing a commercial message is much more challenging on TikTok than on other channels as the algorithm doesn’t condone it. The power lies in the influencer network, and serendipity. Ocean Spray wasn’t expecting @420doggface208’s video, but they surfed the viral wave and gave the user a truck full of cranberry juice after the fact. His second video wasn’t as much of a hit, but it was still picked up by the press.

For Tim, “brands should look at TikTok as a great opportunity to get a first mover advantage. It’s still very early and there are many different niches that brands have yet to claim.”

Another aspect that makes TikTok so authentic is the open dialogue between customers and brands. Even when something goes awry, it doesn’t have to be a problem; TikTok encourages you to take tough conversations genuinely and head on. Not only does this help you stay relevant, it’s a valuable marketing asset. This makes it a very interesting and promising time for startups, from both a branding perspective and a testing-and-iterating perspective, has Anjula points out:

From social activism to goofing off, TikTok influencers have gone from growing an audience to actually shaping the cultural and political discourse. They are defining the way we transact and interact with brands on massive social media platforms. If impact is a driving goal for any company, as an investor I have to wonder, can one be both an activist and a commercial entity at the same time? 

Amanda is a great example. Her authenticity is powerful: she’s a vegan, an animal lover, politically-engaged, and she wants the world to know it. “I think a lot of the younger generations are looking at authenticity. Holding back information, even when negative, mixes poorly with that ideal. Building brands and building companies is very similar to being an influencer, because you’re building a following that is going to support that brand.”

All that sounds great, but the line between freedom of speech and misinformation can be tricky on these platforms, especially when it comes to public figures like Donald Trump. “When you’re systematically violating the terms of use of the platform, you should face consequences. Trump was probably the only user in Twitter’s history to be reported that many times without being taken off the platform,” recalls Tim. Trump was eventually booted off Twitter for good, which inevitably led to the discussion on whether platforms should have the power to limit freedom of speech.

Like Twitter, TikTok recently introduced labels to be displayed alongside sensitive content. This is a step in the right direction according to Amanda: “It means you’re not silencing anybody, but at the same time you’re providing a sense of caution when consuming the information.”

A related big question is, how much power should we give these tech giants? Speaking from my own experience of Spotify locking horns with Apple, it is clear that the App Store has provided ample opportunities for Apple to use its monopoly against any competitor. I believe big tech shouldn’t have as much power as it wields today and needs to be smartly regulated. If you look at Google, the whole results page is basically a commercial. It’s impossible to get unadulterated, unbiased, unsponsored search results these days. Google has 95% market share in search and there has been virtually no innovation in the field for the last decade. I’m cheering for DuckDuckGo as an emerging competitor.

Facebook is no better. One of my favourite metal bands, Dark Tranquillity, recently told me they can only reach a fraction (5%) of their own audience when they post news on Facebook — unless they pay up. With algorithms changing more and more to favour social networks over their users, artists who have spent decades building an audience can no longer even access their hard-earned fans. They are owned by Facebook.

It’s even more frustrating for creators like Amanda, who make a living from reaching their audience: “I work so hard to create organic content that I don’t get paid for, to grow my platforms, and then I can’t reach them. Whenever there’s an issue like that, there’s an opportunity for new platforms that offer better privacy laws and better access to your audience.”

Institutions and legislators will have a big effect on social media platforms. I believe there will be a push for more antitrust laws and social networks will be treated as media providers. This means they’ll need to take responsibility for the content disseminated on their platforms, not only from a user agreement standpoint like today, but also from an editorial standpoint. I expect we’ll see many more Social Media Editors-in-Chief as the editorial component gains importance in our polarised world. This has the potential to change the social media platform landscape quite dramatically.

It certainly seems like TikTok is onto something. If you’re a startup, take a page from Amanda’s book and try it as well as any other new, buzzworthy platforms. They’re full of opportunities to go viral if you get the content right. Of course, there’s always the chance they’ll peter out or get banned, as TikTok almost did in the US. But it didn’t, and here we are, talking about it.